Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 69
ब्रह्मोवाच । न यज्ञकर्मणा स्वर्गःस्वेन कायेन लभ्यते । मुक्त्वा देहांतरं ब्रह्मंस्तस्मान्मैवं वदस्व माम्
brahmovāca | na yajñakarmaṇā svargaḥsvena kāyena labhyate | muktvā dehāṃtaraṃ brahmaṃstasmānmaivaṃ vadasva mām
Brahmā said: “Heaven is not won by sacrificial acts while one still clings to this very body. Only after casting off the body and taking another may one reach it; therefore, O Brahman, speak not to me in this manner.”
Brahmā
Listener: the petitioning sage (addressed as ‘brahman’)
Scene: Brahmā speaks with calm authority, correcting the sage: heaven cannot be gained by sacrifice while keeping the same body; one must leave the body and take another—therefore do not ask this of me.
FAQs
It asserts a normative cosmic rule: heavenly attainment follows the shedding of the present body; ritual alone is not meant to override that order.
No specific tīrtha is named; the verse provides doctrinal context within a Tīrtha-māhātmya narrative.
It indirectly limits what yajña can accomplish, emphasizing the proper boundaries of ritual results.
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